Embodied memory and curatorship in children’s digital video production

Digital video production in schools is often theorised, researched and written about in two ways: either as a part of media studies practice or as a technological innovation, bringing new, “creative”, digital tools into the curriculum. Using frameworks for analysis derived from multimodality theory, new literacy studies and theories of embodied identity, this study examines a video production made by two children who were taking part in a video project on the theme of self-representation and identity. Evidence was collected in the form of production notes, video interviews and the media text itself. The findings suggest that this way of working in new media can be thought of as a new literacy practice, metaphorically conceived as a form of “curatorship” of children’s own lives in the uses of multimodal editing tools for the intertextual organisation of digital media assets and their subsequent exhibition to peer groups and beyond

Lessons From New York City's Universal Pre-K Expansion: How a focus on diversity could make it even better

This brief is divided into two parts. The first provides background on how universal pre-K programs fit into the national landscape of early childhood policy, outlines the main features of New York City's current Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) expansion efforts, and draws lessons for other cities and states interested in expanding their programs. The second part provides an in-depth look at the issue of preschool classroom diversity in UPK, highlighting the opportunities and obstacles for integration embedded in current policies and recommending policy changes to address this issue in New York City and beyond

Exploring strategic approaches towards a sustainable transport system

This paper undertakes a ‘backcasting’ analysis exploring strategic approaches for overalsystems sustainability in personal transport. Starting from a robust definition of sustainability for the personal transport sector, the research examines the impact of combinations of transport technologies and changes in travel behaviour in reducing CO2 emissions towards a sustainable level. In doing this a simple equation model is used. This is purposely simple to provide a tool developing understanding by anyone exploring transport’s sustainability challenges. It is concluded that technical measures in isolation are likely to be ineffective and politically problematic. Equally, even substantial modal shift from car to public transport cannot on its own attain the sustainability target. A combined strategy of both technical improvements and demand management addressing trip length, trip generation and modal share can deliver the necessary improvement, although the implementation of such a package remains politically challenging

Exploring rail futures using scenarios: experience and potential

In 1995 the author of this paper undertook a scenario exercise for British Rail to identify priorities for rail science and technology developments under the new privatised regime. Four marketbased 2010 scenarios were developed for UK rail transport: 1) cost driven; 2) quality driven, 3)technology driven and 4) environmentally driven. These helped to identify areas of strategic R&D that were needed to improve rail’s competitiveness. It is now over a decade since this scenario exercise took place. This paper, updating an earlier review (Potter and Roy, 2000), revisits the 1995 scenarios and compares them to what actual market strategies emerged within the privatised railway industry. It explores whether the four scenarios did succeed in capturing the range of market responses that emerged from rail privatisation and what lessons this contains for the use of scenarios transport research

Transport energy and emissions: urban public transport

This chapter explores how to measure energy and emissions from urban transport. It then provides information to make a comparison between energy use and CO2 emissions for urban travel by car, train, tram and bus. A substantial difference is noted between the figures for peak and off-peak travel, associated with patterns of vehicle loadings. The chapter concludes with a discussion on how energy efficiency can be improved and the need to shift from a vehicle to a systems level to fully evaluate policy options

An Incomplete Archive of Unfinished Ideas

This work was an installation created for the exhibition ‘Memoranda’, shown at the Crafts Study Centre, Farnham in 2011. Curators Tessa Peters and Janice West invited Potter and three other artists to consider and respond to the archive of the Crafts Study Centre at UCA Farnham. The works produced were shown together with a selection of archive objects as the exhibition ‘Memoranda’. An accompanying publication contained essays by Daniel Miller, Dr Glenn Adamson and the curators, as well as interviews with the participating artists (2011). Potter’s ‘An Incomplete Archive of Unfinished Ideas’ was underpinned by collections research in the Craft Study Centre Archive. The final piece was informed by material Potter found there: a collection of ceramic test pieces produced by Lucie Rie and Edward Johnston’s instructional calligraphy (‘56 ‘A’s made as wrongly as possible’). In the ‘Memoranda’ interview, Potter discusses collections’ social role as classificatory mechanisms and their inherent capacity to divide completed objects from the processes of their making. Potter’s response highlights ‘elimination’ and ‘incompletion’ as intrinsic to making practice. Twenty-five containers for rejected experiments were carefully constructed and labelled; these invited viewers to consider craft as a form of memory and notation, rather than purely the skilful construction of objects. Potter offers an encounter with the truth of error, and underlines the role of process as a journey towards knowing. The work questions contemporary craft culture, which validates the artefact through the critics who endow it with ‘cultural capital’. ‘Memoranda’ was reviewed in Crafts (2011), an magazine (2011) and Museums Journal (2011) amongst others. A seminar was held during the exhibition, where Potter discussed working with the archive and the development of her response